The Wealth of Knowledge: Intellectual Capital and the Twenty-first Century Organization

The author posits in this three part book that organizations that effectively manage their knowledge assets - patents, copyrights, databases, as well as workers' skills, capabilities and expertise - to slash expenses and gain competitive advantage.In the book's first section Stewart, a member of Fortune Magazine's Board of Editors and author of the 1997 best seller, Intellectual Capital defines knowledge assets and describes how they become the seeds of wealth and value creation.In the second section, the author provides a four part program to manage intellectual assets. He suggests1. Identifying and tracing knowledge's role in your business. He suggests discovering who gets paid for knowledge, who pays, how much and who creates the most value.2. Matching revenue streams with the knowledge assets that produce them.3. Developing a value proposition and strategy to invest in and exploit these assets.4. Improving the efficiency of knowledge work and knowledge workers.The author ventures into business' cosmic questions in the last section of the book: How should investors be rewarded? Why do businesses exist? Who invests? He argues that knowledge assets serve as the company's foundation. By reminding companies to value the importance of the human element in these systems, Stewart sharpens a business' responsiveness, performance and ability to address future challenges.

Business corporations of old were formed out of physical assets such as real estate, buildings, and machinery. Over the last few decades, and accelerating as we move into the 21st century, businesses have increasingly shifted emphasis to intangible assets, including brands, patents, relationships, knowledge, and organizational culture. Yet accounting methods and much input into strategy and decision-making have lagged behind this trend. Stewart, author of Intellectual Capital and a Fortune columnist, has produced an impressive book that investigates many aspects of the knowledge enterprise and the role of intellectual capital. The three main sections are "The Theory of a Knowledge Business", "The Disciplines of a Knowledge Business", and "The Performance of a Knowledge Business". The weakness in this range is that it appears that Stewart has thrown in topics that have little relation to the main point of the book. Each chapter, with a few exceptions, can be read separately as they do not build one on another effectively. Some of the chapters are particularly rewarding: Chapter 10 looks at how to support knowledge processes; chapter 12, "The Human Capitalist", gathers some interesting thoughts on work and pay for intellectual capitalists, and chapter 13 covers several recent views on how to account for intangibles. The book is definitely worth picking through for the many nuggets but would have been improved with a tighter focus and a stronger theoretical framework. Faults are easy to miss and, when not missed, to forgive thanks to Stewart's undeniable talent as an entertaining writer.

Great, thank you !

Joseph Heller is a great writer. His most famous work involves youngYossarian exploring the wily chambers of an insane McNamarian bureaucracythat is the inner workings of the WWII military campaign in Europe. MiloMinderbinder counterparts Yossarian's character by exploring capitalismgone wild. Heller deliciously wraps the whole thing up such that everychapter, every page, every paragraph and in some cases every sentencebegins and ends with a catch-22.Tom Peters is a sharp tack. Back when the US had more seriousbusiness problems to attend to including 10% inflation, 20% primeinterest rates, 10% unemployment, and Japanese Kereitsu'smanaging circles around America's best and brightest Drukerarians,Peters and his McKinsey side-office cohort Bob Waterman fired the firstshot in the new economy by exploring the bureaucracy and socialorganization of what makes excellent companies.Thomas Stewart is the best of both authors. His new book has flagged aninflection point in the evolution of high tech management. Hebookends every chapter, every page, every paragraph with fresh managerialinsight and survey that would make Peters proud and a anecdotal familiarismwhich stems from knowing every major C-level executive at all the thoughtleading companies doing "cool work." "The Wealth of Knowledge" weavesthe do's and don'ts of corporate lore into a terrific read that only Hellercan rival in fiction exploring the catch-22 of tangible accounting and measuring, creatingand managing a corporation's intangible assets--namely Intellectual Capital.

Tom Stewart is the world's foremost authority on intellectual capital, which is no small recommendation in itself. But here's an equally important consideration for anyone thinking about buying this book: he won't bore you to death! If you've read much in this general area, you know that such a fatal end often awaits the unwary reader. In sharp contrast, this guy knows how to tell a story, and The Wealth of Knowledge is packed with them -- hugely engaging anecdotes drawn both from his own broad journalistic experience and from spirited conversations with an amazing array of business leaders. None of which is to imply that the theoretical foundations are glossed over. Stewart clearly has a wealth of knowledge himself in these matters. He imparts what he's learned in a way that not only enlightens, but also makes you want to keep reading. Solid, grounded and profoundly useful insights. Highly entertaining. Highly recommended.- Chris Locke, author of Gonzo Marketing: Winning Through Worst Practices, and co-author of The Cluetrain Manifesto.

Terrible book. There are better books about the knowledge economy. This one is dated and hard to follow. In addition, only a used copy was available on Amazon and it smells!

Excellent follow-up to "Intellectual Capital".